Continuous cigarette rod making machines



July 19, 1966 K. KORBER ET AL CONTINUOUS CIGARETTE ROD MAKING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 1, 1960 July 19, 1966 KQKORBER ET AL 3,261,365

. CONTINUOUS CIGARETTE ROD MAKING MACHINES Filed Feb. 1, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jay 5 United States Patent 3,261,365 CONTINUOUS CIGARETTE ROD MAKING MACHINES Kurt Kiirber, Pfingstberg 10, Hamburg- Bergedorf, Germany Filed Feb. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 5,836 Claims priority, applicationsilgermany, Feb. 2, 1959,

9 4 Claims. (Cl. 131-84) The invention relates to cigarette making machines and particularly to improvements in continuous cigarette rod making machines and an arrangement thereon for equal izing and/or trimming the surface of the tobacco stream from which the cigarette rod is made.

In order to form a tobacco rod from which cigarettes of substantially uniform weight can be produced, for example a tobacco rod which is uniform throughout, it is desirable to level or trim the surface of a tobacco stream produced, for example, by a tobacco distributor. Such a levelling or trimming removes the high portions of the tobacco stream and may be used to transfer the removed tobacco into the low portions of the tobacco stream or, when there is an excess of tobacco in the stream, the trimming removes the high portions entirely from the tobacco stream.

The object of the invention is a cigarette rod making machine in which the non-uniform tobacco stream deposited by a tobacco distributor upon a substantially horizontally travelling conveyor belt is trimmed at its upper surface by a cutting device which is arranged in the region where the transfer of the tobacco stream from the conveyor belt to a cigarette rod making belt takes place. At this transfer point is arranged a grooved transfer member moving in the direction of movement of the tobacco stream, and also a suction device for compacting the tobacco stream.

The drawing illustrates diagrammatically two embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a tobacco rod producing machine with a trimming device, and with a portion illustrated in section,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view along the horizontal line HII of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the vertical line III--III of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view similar to that shown in FIG. 1, of another tobacco rod producing machine, and

FIG. 5 is a top elevation view along the horizontal line IV--IV of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing, a tobacco distributor 6 showers loose tobacco T upon the upper horizontal stretch of a driven endless conveyor belt 7 which, as shown in FIG. 2, moves between spaced parallel guide rails 8 so as to form a layer of approximately uniform thickness and width on the belt. This layer 9 at the right hand end of the conveyor belt 7, which is guided over rollers 10 and 11 of which at least one is positively driven, is transferred to the rod-forming endless belt 12 by a continuously moving transfer member. According to FIG. 1, the transfer member is a circular disc-shaped Wheel 14 provided with a peripheral groove 15 and is fixedly attached to a horizontal drive shaft 16. This wheel 14 is arranged between the two endless conveyor belts 7 and 12 (FIG. 1). The interior of the wheel 14 is hollow and separated from the peripheral groove 15 by a circular perforated wall 17 forming the bottom of the peripheral groove 15 into which the tobacco is fed from the end of the conveyor belt 7 by a horizontal bridge member 19. Within the upper portion of the wheel 14 is arranged a stationary suction chamber 20 which exerts a suction upon that 3,261,365 Patented July 19, 1966 ice portion of the peripheral groove 15 where a trimming device operates upon the upper surface of the moving tobacco stream.

The trimming device may consist of two star wheels 23 and 23' rotating in a common horizontal plane. The teeth on one wheel enter with clearance into the spaces between the teeth of the other wheel, and a circular cutter 24 also rotating in a horizontal plane is arranged above the two star wheels 23 and 23 and removes the tobacco projecting through the gaps formed between the teeth of the two star wheels. The star wheels 23 and 23' and the circular cutter 24 are fixedly attached to the lower ends of vertical shafts 26, 27 and 28, respectively, which are driven by a gearing arranged in a gear box 30. The gearing is operatively connected with a suitable prime mover, such as an electric motor. An example of such a trim ming device is described in the application Serial No. 371,888, filed on May 28, 1964, by Willy Richter and Werner Ringe.

During the trimming operation the tobacco stream 9 moves tangentially of the wheel 14 through the groove 15 and is compacted in this groove 15 by the suction produced in the suction chamber 20 so that in addition to a compacting of the tobacco a trimming of high portions 9' of the tobacco stream 9 is accomplished, or a trimming of the tobacco to the desired cross section. The trimmed tobacco stream 9A is then conducted by the bridge member 19a to the endless conveyor belt 12 which leads the trimmed tobacco stream 9A, which is also guided by spaced parallel guide rails 8a to the cigarette forming device.

In FIG. 5 the groove of the transfer member is formed by two horizontally spaced endless belts 31, 32 and the horizontal portion of an endless perforated belt 40 forming the bottom of the groove 41. The two endless belts 31 and 32 are guided over rollers 33, 34, 35 and 36 rotating about vertical axes 37, 38, 39, 42, respectively, of which at least two, such as 38 and 39, are driven by a suitable gearing operated by the prime mover of the machine. The adjacent vertical faces of these belts which form the side walls of the groove 41 are parallel to each other and the horizontal portion of the perforated endless belt 40 moves over the open upper side of a suction chamber 20a. The trimming device 23, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28 and 30 is arranged in the center above the suction chamber 20a and trims the upper surface of the tobacco stream 9 in the groove 41. Bridge members 45 and 45a guide the tobacco stream toward and away from the belt 40 of said transfer member, which belt is threaded over rollers 46, 47 and 48 of which at least one is positively driven. Suction to the chamber 20a is applied through a duct shown in FIG. 4 as extending downwardly from the bottom of this chamber.

What I claim is:

1. In a cigarette rod making machine, in combination,

a first conveyor defining a first elongated tobacco-receiving channel which is open at one side thereof; distributor means for showering tobacco through the open side, of said channel at such a rate that tobacco entering said channel forms a stream which contains tobacco in excess of that required in the cigarette rod; a rod forming conveyor defining a second elongated tobacco-receiving channel which is spaced from and which is substantially aligned with and located substantially at the same elevation as said first channel; transfer means for transferring the stream from said first channel toward said second channel along a substantially straight path which constitutes an extension of the path of tobacco in said first channel and for continuously guiding the tobacco stream from the point where the stream leaves said first channel to the point where the stream enters said second channel, said transfer means defining an elongated tobacco-receiving groove open at one side so that one surface of the tobacco stream is exposed during travel in said groove and said transfer means comprising a suction conveying device arranged to create a pressure differential across the path of the tobacco stream in said groove so that the stream is compressed in a zone along its path from the first to the rod forming conveyor and said transfer means further comprising at least one endless travelling wall member which is adjacent to said groove; and a trimming device adjacent to the open side of said groove for removing excess tobacco while the stream is subjected to compression by said suction conveying device so that the channel of the rod forming conveyor receives an equalized stream containing only such quantities of tobacco as are necessary in the cigarette rod.

2. In a cigarette rod making machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said travelling wall member is a fluidpermeable belt constituting the bottom wall of said groove and said suction conveying device comprises a suction chamber adjacent to said bottom wall opposite said groove, said trimming device being located opposite said belt.

3. In a cigarette rod making machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein the groove defined by said transfer means extends all the way between said first and second channels.

4. In a cigarette rod making machine as set forth in claim 1, wherein said travelling wall member is a fluidpermeable member to which the tobacco stream is attracted by suction during transfer from said first channel and wherein said transfer means further comprises a stripping device for bodily engaging and separating the equalized stream from said fluid-permeable member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,393,526 10/1921 Grupe 131-61 1,755,080 4/1930 Schunemann 131-110 1,808,795 6/ 1931 Stelzer. 2,660,178 11/1953 Rault 13184 3,059,650 10/1963 Gamberini 131-84 X FOREIGN PATENTS 801,897 5/1936 France. 1,179,992 12/ 1958 France.

900,182 12/ 1953 Germany.

286,421 3/1938 Great Britain.

SAMUEL KOREN, Primary Examiner.

ABRAHAM G. STONE, Examiner.

JOSEPH S. REICH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A CIGARETTE ROD MAKING MACHINE, IN COMBINATION, A FIRST CONVEYOR DEFINING A FIRST ELONGATED TOBACCO-RECEIVING CHANNEL WHICH IS OPEN AT ONE SIDE THEREOF; DISTRIBUTOR MEANS FOR SHOWERING TOBACCO THROUGH THE OPEN SIDE OF SAID CHANNEL AT SUCH A RATE THAT TOBACCO ENTERING SAID CHANNEL FORMS A STREAM WHICH CONTAINS TOBACCO IN EXCESS OF THAT REQUIRED IN THE CIGARETTE ROD; A ROD FORMING CONVEYOR DEFINING A SECOND ELONGATED TOBACCO-RECEIVING CHANNEL WHICH IS SPACED FROM AND WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY ALIGNED WITH AND LOCATED SUBSTANTIALLY AT THE SAME ELEVATION AS SAID FIRST CHANEL; TRANSFER MEANS FOR TRANSFERRING THE STREAM FROM SAID FIRST CHANNEL TOWARD SAID SECOND CHANNEL ALONG A SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT PATH WHICH CONSTITUTES AN EXTENSION OF THE PATH OF TOBACCO IN SAID FIRST CHANNEL AND FOR CONTINUOUSLY GUIDING THE TOBACCO STREAM FROM THE POINT WHERE THE STREAM LEAVES SAID FIRST CHANNEL TO THE POINT WHERE THE STREAM ENTERS AND SECOND CHANNEL, SAID TRANSFER MEANS DEFINING AN ELONGATED TOBACCO-RECEIVING GROOVE OPEN AT ONE SIDE SO THAT ONE SURFACE OF THE TOBACCO STREAM 